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Tuesday, August 13, 2013

Crossing Mountains - Transalpine is coming!

2 months ago I received an email in my inbox asking whether I wanted to partner with a German girl, Gine, for the Transalpine race at the beginning of September. Gine is on the Salomon Germany team, and was looking for another girl to race with and somehow through the Salomon community our paths crossed and we found each other!

Partnering with someone and sharing an 8 day race is daunting. Partnering with someone you don't know, well, this brought many considerations: Would we get along? Are we a similar speed? Do we share the same goals and attitude to being in the mountains? Through some honest Skype discussions we could establish some common ground, and in the end decided to go for it! That's how I have found myself on the edge of the German Alps, deep in Bavaria, sharing some wonderful new trails with Gine and dicovering that trail runners, and generally people who just like to get out, share the same positivity the world over.

The last week I have been visiting Gine so we could really get to know each other and to plan for our race, so where better than on a couple of 8 hour hike/run/climbs on the mountain trails!

Zwiesel Crossing

Our first trip together - 2400m+ over 35km, and 8 hours of running, power hiking, climbing and scrambling. We started in the small town of Marzoll, running along the Saalach river, and then crossing over 4 peaks: Fuderheuberg, Hochstaufen (1771m), Zwiesel Mountain (1782), and Gamskogel - all part of the Chiemgauer Alps, and each summit marked with a 'gipfel,' a cross.

Gine on the first peak - Fuderheuberg, marked with a cross:

Trail running often includes rock scrambling and climbing!

Team mates:

Gine on the summit of Hochstaufen:

On the summit of Zwiesel Mountain, the box containing the summit book to record your name in: